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0. T. PORTER. Base Plate for Hdrizontal Engines.

No. 242,976. Patented June 14,1881.

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' O. T. PORTER;

. Base Plate for Horizontal Engines.

N0 242,976. Paiengdlupe 14,1881.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CHARLES T. PORTER, OF PHILADELPHIA, IA., ASSIGNOR TO THE SOUTH- WARK FOUNDRY AND MACHINE COMPANY, OF SAME PLACE.

BASE-PLATE FOR HORIZONTAL ENGINES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 242,976, dated June 14, 1881. Application filed March 31, 1881. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES T. PORTER, a citizen of the United States, residing in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, have invented certain Improvements in BasePlates for Horizontal Steam-Engines, of which the following is a specification.

2, an end View, looking in the direction of the arrow 1, Fig. 1; Fig. 3, a transverse section on the line 5 6, Fig. 5; Fig. 4., a transverse section on the line 7 8, Fig. 5; Fig. 5, Sheet 2, a plan view of the base-plate; Fig. 6, a section on the line 1 2, Fig. 5; and Fig. 7, a section on the line 3 4, Fig. 5.

It may be remarked in the outset that highspeed stationary steam-engines of the horizontal type have become popular, and are taking the place of low-speed engines.

It is essential in the construction of highspeed engines that the base-plates, as well as the foundations, should be very substantial to insure that increased stability and permanent truth of alignment which the increased speed of the engine demands. This is especially the case in the construction of duplex or coupled en gines, and the aim of my invention has been to insure this increased stability and truth of alignment and the freedom from jars so desirable in engines of this class.

Heretofore it has been the practice in erecting coupled or duplex horizontal engines to use a separate base-plate for each engine, so that one could not contribute to the stability of the other, the foundations even being in a great measure separated by the pit for the fly-wheel or pulley.

I overcome these difliculties in the manner which can be best explained in the firstinstance by reference to the perspective view, Fig.1, of my improved base-plate for a duplex highspeed engine. In this view,A A are the two cylinders secured to the hoodshaped projections B B of the base-plate, in which are formed recesses a a for the crank-shaft, and in the present instance recesses b b for the bearings of line-shafts, for it should be understood that the connecting-rod of each engine is in this case coupled to a crank-pin common'to two cranks, one on the crank-shaft and the other on a line-shaft. I have adopted this plan when an existing line-shaft has to be driven from a point midway or therealiout from its opposite ends. I

In duplex engines running at a high speed a comparatively small fly-wheel may be used. Hence the opening W of the fly-wheel may be so small as to permit the union of the two baseplates by the connecting portions dcl,orrather to convert the two base-plates into one by the said connecting portions, which constitute parts of the base-plate, and this without making the base-plate more bulky than two separate base-plates of proper strength and stability. Indeed, the base-plate may be of less weight than two separate base-plates of proper strength, for one part of the improved baseplate, devoted to one engine, contributes to the stability of the other part, devoted to the other engine, owing to the connection of the two parts together, and embodying the connections in both parts, thus producing one general self-contained structure. One entire foundation, moreover, may be made for the two engines, for the fly-wheel for an engine of this class may be so small that a pit too shallow to disturb the integrity of this general founda- 'tion is all that will be required.

The duplex engine, owing to high speed, may be made without afly-wheel, in which case the opening Wmay be of more limited extent, or may be dispensed with altogether, in

plate of two or more castings; but these must be so secured together that the whole shall be substantially one self-contained structure.

The above description applies to the main feature of my invention, and it should be understood that this feature does not consist solely of the base-plate, for a base-plate made in one piece and carrying two cylinders has heretofore been made, but not with two hoodlike projections to which the cylinders are secured, and which form a part of the said baseplate, as in my invention.

The hood-like projections B B of the baseplate are of desirable strength for carrying the cylinders, their strength being enhanced by causing the edges m of each hood to merge gradually into the main body of the plate. The shape of the hood, moreover, affords an opportunity of bringing the guides for the cross-head near to the cylinder, the guides, or rather the lower guides, n n, for the cross-head of each engine, being cast on the base-plate and being partly contained within the limits of the hood,

as best observed in Fig. 7.

I may refer here to another feature of my invention-that of preventing the dispersal and waste of the oil used in lubricating the guides.

The lower cross-head guides are bounded by ribs 2' i, (see Fig. 4,) which prevent the escape of the oil laterally, and a reservoir of suitable shape and dimensions may be formed in the base-plate for receiving the waste oil; but I prefer an inclined passage, q, formed in the base-plate between the guides and communicating with the bottom of the hood, which serves as an oil-receptacle, and from which the oil may be withdrawn from time totime through any suitable outlet. In high-speed engines, where the guides demand a plentiful supply of oil, this plan of preventing its dispersal and of collecting it for future use is a matter of im- -portance.

2. The combination, in a base-plate, of thehoods B B with the body of the plate, provided with an opening, W, and connections (1 d, by which the two portions of the plate devoted to the two engines areconverted into one self-contained structure, as set forth.

3. The within-described plate, having hoodlikeprojectionsfor two cylinders, central opening, W, connections 61 d, openings h h, and recesses for the bearings of crank and line shafts, all being combined substantially as set forth.

4. The combination,in the base-plate, of the lower cross-head guides, having ribs i i, with a reservoir formed in the said base-plate for the reception of the waste oil from the guides.

5. The combination of the within-described hood of the base-plate, the cross-head guide, having ribs 1' 'i, and the channel with inclined bottom for directing the oil which escapes fro in the guides to the bottom of the hood, substantially as set forth.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name.

to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

GHAS. T. PORTER.

Witnesses:

JAMES F. TOBIN, HARRY SMITH. 

